This question that went around the Browns locker room last week is one never asked in Baltimore, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, New England or Green Bay:
The offensive and defensive captains, left tackle Joe Thomas and linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, were both asked the same question: Is the Browns front office trying to win now?
“That’s a tough question to answer,” Thomas said. “That would be better served to ask those people that are in charge. The players are doing everything they can and the coaches are doing everything they can. That’s the way it has been and the way it’s going to be.”
During a speech in Mentor in October, Browns CEO Joe Banner said he wasn’t as interested in the final record this year as in seeing the coaches implement their system, see a “culture” and “work ethic” change and see young players progress.
Banner will have to answer after the season how satisfied he is with those items on his checklist.
The Browns are 4-10. They have to win one more game just to equal the record that got Pat Shurmur fired last year.
On Sept. 18, Banner traded running back Trent Richardson to the Colts for a 2014 first-round draft. The trade looks good for the future, considering the way Richardson has struggled in Indianapolis, but it obviously weakened the Browns in 2013.
“Right now, based on how we’re building this team for sustainable success, we’re going to be aggressive and do what it takes to assemble a team that consistently wins,” Banner said after the Richardson trade.
On Dec. 3, the Browns placed cornerback Chris Owens on injured reserve with a knee injury. He was on a one-year contract he signed in free agency after four seasons with the Falcons. Owens made 54 tackles with 2 1/2 sacks. He played in 12 games with three starts.
The Browns filled his roster spot with up-and-coming cornerback Julian Posey.
That’s what teams out of playoff contention always do: they change their roster at the bottom hoping to find good players for the next season.
Just two weeks after he was placed on IR, Owens was waived and claimed by Miami. On Sunday, he will suit up with the Dolphins — a quick turnaround for a player put on season-ending injured reserve fewer than 20 days ago. He will be in the playoffs in two weeks if the Dolphins, 8-6, advance to the postseason.
Meanwhile, the Browns have to go with Posey and/or rookie Leon McFadden against the Jets because Owens isn’t available and Joe Haden is battling a hip-pointer. Whether Haden plays is a game-time decision.
“At that particular time, I think we were working through our quarterback situation, plus a number of other injuries on the roster,” coach Rob Chudzinski said. “We just were in a position where that was the thing that we had to do with his injury.”
Owens wasn’t going to be with the Browns next year regardless of whether he played with them in the final two games this season. But because he isn’t playing with them, Banner and General Manager Michael Lombardi will be able to assess Posey and McFadden.
“The players on the field are trying to win,” Jackson said, “I don’t care what they’re doing upstairs. The players try to win games, and the front office, they bring the guys in. But I can’t worry about what the front office is doing. I tell you the players are trying to win.”
Jackson has been with the Browns since 2006 and Thomas since 2007. They have known nothing but losing and misery every year except 2007, when the Browns were 10-6.
This season has been especially difficult for both because they thought this team would be better than the others. Instead, it has lost eight of nine games. Five games into the season, the Browns were in a three-way tie with the Ravens and Bengals for the AFC North lead.
“I definitely thought we’d be in the playoff picture until the end,” Thomas said. “A couple of close losses and key injuries set us back. Now, we’re at the point where we can’t make enough progress in the last couple games. But if you look at it, if we would have won one or two more games that were close at the end, we could still be in the playoff picture because the way of the AFC is a .500 team may win the AFC North or get into the last playoff spot.”
Thomas did not like the suggestion the Ravens are an example of a team that knows how to win close games as they did on Monday night when Justin Tucker kicked a 61-yard field goal in the final minute to beat the Lions, 18-16.
The Browns, on the other hand, had a fourth quarter lead each of the last three games and lost each time. Had they held those leads they would be 7-7 without any miracle kicks in the final minute.
“The reason there’s that intangible ‘They know how to win’ is because of talent and guys making the plays they have to at the end,” Thomas said. “New England knows how to win because Tom Brady throws great passes in the end zone and the receiver makes the catch. That’s the way I look at it.”
When asked if talent was lacking on the Browns’ roster, Thomas replied:
“I know we’re definitely going to be making some moves in the offseason in free agency and the draft to try to make this team better, to get the pieces we need so we can make those plays in the fourth quarter or at the end to win the game,” Thomas said.
Fans have the theory it would be better if the Browns lost to the Jets and Steelers to improve their draft status. Banner and Lombardi probably won’t go hoarse rooting for the Browns the last two weeks.
Players do not think that way. They are playing for their futures, so it is illogical to think they would make plays to lose. General managers on every team swing a cold ax when making roster cuts in training camp.
“With my experience, what you do in the last few weeks, it’s a lot of carryover into the offseason, the regular season and so forth,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot invested in these last two weeks.
“You want to walk away with a good taste in your mouth. I don’t know how many games we’ve lost straight (five straight), but we want to get the one. Just win the first one, and hopefully we can win out and things will be moving in the right direction. It’s definitely important these last two weeks.”
Jackson was on injured reserve with a pectoral injury when the Browns won their last four games in 2009. Another pectoral injury suffered in training camp ended his 2010 season before it began.
There was no carryover from 2009 to 2010. The Browns released quarterback Derek Anderson, traded quarterback Brady Quinn and lost their first three games with Jake Delhomme and then Seneca Wallace at quarterback.Carr to Browns?
It is never too early for a mock draft.
Actually, it’s way too early for a mock draft considering the official draft order will change over the last two weeks. Plus, free agency could change a team’s priorities in the draft. But that hasn’t stopped ESPN NFL draft expert Todd McShay from producing his first mock draft for 2014.
McShay has the Browns taking quarterback Derek Carr from Fresno State with the sixth pick in the first round. Carr is 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. Carr threw 50 touchdown passes to only eight interceptions in 2013. He passed for 5,083 yards.
On Saturday against USC in the Las Vegas Bowl, Carr was 29 of 54 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
“Quarterback is the Browns’ top priority,” McShay wrote. “Offensive coordinator Norv Turner wants a QB with size and the arm strength to push the ball down the field, and that’s what Carr provides. He is a little bit of a reach here, but there’s a lot to like about his game. He is very accurate and has great touch on short-to-intermediate throws, has a high football IQ and gets the ball out quickly. He can improve his deep-ball accuracy, but has the arm strength to make all the NFL throws and the maturity and experience to come in and play right away.”
Carr is the fourth quarterback off the board in McShay’s draft. He has the Texans taking Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville with the first pick, the Raiders taking Blake Bortles from Central Florida third and Jacksonville taking Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M fourth overall.
The Browns, Raiders, Falcons, Buccaneers and Jaguars are all 4-10. The Texans are 2-12 and the Redskins are 3-11. The Vikings are 4-9-1.
Draft order for teams with identical records is determined by strength of schedule. Head to head is not a factor.